A Photograph Poem by Shirley Taulson

 About The Poet: Shirley Taulson

Shirley Taulson was born in 1924 in Henley-on-Thames., England. She took her career as a writer by her passion and influenced by her father, who was also a writer. She  got her education in English literature from the university of London. She was a journalist, editor and a local politician too.

She was mostly influenced by Celtic Christianity. Her major literary works such as 'Celtic Alternative' in 1987 and 'Celtic Year' in 1993 were based on the topic Celtic Christianity.

 

Her popular literary  works: 

The Drovers, 2008

Celtic Year,The Celtic l Year a Celebration of Celtic Christian Saints, Sites and Festivals, 2003

The Mendip Hills:A Threatened Landscape 

The Shadows in an Orchard 1960

About the poem 'A Photograph'

The poem is the poet's tribute to her mother. It is a dysphoric poem, which captures three different mood of the poet in three different stanzas. 

The poem describes three stages of the passage of time of the poet.

The first stanza describes about an old photograph of the poet's  mother. In that photograph the poet's mother, along with her two cousins, holding each of the poet's mother's hand by each side were paddling. They smiled  through their hair and paused before their uncle's camera. The surfing of the sea washed their bare mortal feet. They were enjoying a holiday on sea-beach. The old photograph was a memory of the poet of her late mother. The sea in the photograph was same as ever but the poet's mother was no more.

The first stanza is the poet's remembrance of her mother by looking at her old photograph. 

The 'big girl'in the photograph was the poet's mother.She was then a twelve years old girl.The photograph showed she had a sweet face.It was the time before the poet was born. 

The first stanza deals with the passage of time. The photograph holds the sweet memories alive of the poet's mother. The uncle's camera captured the jolly moments of her mother. The camera had also captured the sea which is still seen unchanged, only the poet's mother was no more. 

The first stanza deals with a genuine truth that is nature is more permanent and long lasting then  human life. Another fact is that the mortality of human being or the mutability of time. The photograph was then mere a 'cardboard' and that could hold the memories of the poet's mother alive ,though temporarily. Time's cruel hand will destroy the cardboard also. So everything on earth is temporary and undergo changes by time. 

                    

The second stanza is describing a different stages of time. The poet's mother was then a twenty or thirty years old a middle aged woman. The poet remembered how her mother laughed at looking her own photograph. The poet's mother became nostalgic by remembering her old happy days. She remembered her innocent young days. She remembered her two cousins-Betty and Dolley and laughed at by pointing to their dresses. The poet's mother remembered how were they so innocent that they could not even dressed up properly without the guidance of their parents.

The poet's mother recalled that moment with repentance that she had lost her carefree days which she couldn't get back again. The poet also repented for the absence of her mother that she couldn't see her mother's laughter again as many years had passed of her death. 

Both the poet and the mother had lost something. For the poet's mother, sea-holiday was her past and for the poet, her mother's laughter was her past. 

Both the poet and the mother had learnt to compromise their loss with ease. Both they were exhausted with their feeling of loss.The mother had lost her sea- holiday and the poet had lost her mother. 

The poet's memory became alive by remembering the mother's laughter. 

                           

In the third stanza the poet says that many years have passed of her physical death. The poet knows  nothing about the other two cousins wheather they are alive or not. 

The poet says about the circumstances which is the life without her mother, because of her death . The poet was unable to express her feelings in words, which was the absence the poet bore after the death of her mother. And it was the silence that speaks for itself and nothing else.

Poetic devices used in the poem:

The poet uses certain poetic devices to bring out some poetic effect in the poem.

Allusion:

In the first stanza the word 'cardboard' is an allusion. An allusion is a reference, an incidental mention of something directly or by implication. The word cardboard actually means the photograph. The ironical implication is that the photograph or the cardboard is also an object  to be gone destroyed in the cruel hand of time just like the death of the poet's mother. 

Alliteration:

Alliteration is the repetition of the initial letter, generally a consonant letter in several words which makes a stressed syllable. Example from the poem-'stood still to smile'

'Terribly Transient'

'It's silence silences' etc. 

Transferred Epithet:

It is a description that refers to a character or event but is used to describe a different situation or character.

 Example from the poem:'transient feet'-which refers to human feet, but it implies the Transitoriness of human life. 

Oxymoron:

It is a literary device in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect. 

Example from the poem: 'laboured ease'. The word 'laboured' means with great difficulty.And the word 'ease' means comfortably.The two word jointly means more. 

Personification:

When a human quality is attributed to an Inanimate object it is called personification. In this poem the word 'silence' is personified. It means silence can speak out for itself a lot. 

Questions and  answers:-

1.What does the word 'cardboard' denote in the poem? Why has this word been used? 

Ans:-The word 'cardboard' denotes the  photograph of the poet's mother which is hung on the wall. 

The photograph was then mere a cardboard as the figure in the photograph, who was the poet's mother, was a dead person. The cardboard literally means a hard, thick paper which had been used to keep the photograph intact. But the cardboard would also be destroyed  gradually by time. 

The word cardboard is used in an ironical sense. The cardboard which preserved the photograph of the poet's mother and could hold her memory alive for sometime, itself would be an object of decay and destruction.Time's cruel hand would spare none. Like her mother in the photograph,though the photograph would be able to represent her memory for a period of time, would itself be  vanished in course of  time. 

2.What has the camera captured? 

Ans:-The uncle's camera has captured the cheerful images of the poet's mother along with her two cousin sisters when they went for a sea-holiday. . While taking the photograph all the three girls were standing with smile through their hair and their bare feet were washed by the sea-waves of the sea. The uncle's camera has captured their pretty and jolly images and the sea in the background very successfully. 

3.What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you? 

Ans:-The sea in the photograph hasn't changed over the years. But the poet's mother was no more. Many years have been passed of her death. The poet declares a truth through her lines, that, nature and it's objects are  more permanent then human life.

4.The poet's mother laughed at her snapshot.What did this laugh indicate? 

Ans:-The laughter of the mother at seeing her own photograph indicates her nostalgic remembrance of her past. She laughed at by pointing out to their dresses that how their parents dressed them up for the sea-holiday. Her mother laughed at  their funny dresses and remembered their innocence. Now the poet's mother discovered the fact that all three were quite innocent. 

5.What is the meaning of the line, 'Both wry with the laboured ease of loss'? 

Ans:-Both the poet and the mother were suffered from a loss which they tried to accept as a normalcy in life. The poet's mother, who was then a middle aged woman ,had lost her carefree childhood days. And the poet had lost her mother's laughter which was then a memory to the poet as her mother was dead. 

This is a poetic device employed by the poet which is called Oxymoron. When the  two word implies two opposite meaning altogether to creat a sense of a deeper understanding of a certain truth is called oxymoron. Example from the poem is the use of the phrase 'laboured ease '. 

6.what does 'this circumstance' refer to? 

Ans:-'This circumstances' refers to a situation which occurs due to the poet's suffering from absence because of the death of the mother. 

7.The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they? 

Ans:-The poen 'A Photograph' depicts three different phases of the poet. The first phase is the poet's remembrance of the mother by looking at her photograph.It was taken before the poet was born. The photograph was a snapshot of a sea-holiday, enjoyed by a twelve years young girl who was the poet's mother, with her two cousins sister on a sea beach. 

The poet also sees a deeper truth that human life is short whereas the sea in the photograph remains the same. The photograph, the poet calls it a cardboard as it became a memory of her mother only. 

The second phase is the poet's reminiscences of her mother after twenty or thirty years later. The poet's mother was then a middle aged woman.The poet remembers how her mother laughed by pointing out at her own snapshot. The poet remembered her mother laughed at how funnily they dressed for the sea- holiday. The poet remembered how her mother became nostalgic about her carefree childhood days. At that moment the poet suffered for the absence of her mother. Both the poet and the mother tried to comfort themselves with much pain for what the time had taken away from both of them. 

The third phase is about the 'circumstances', which is the suffering of the poet because of the absence of the mother and the poet's inability to express it in words.The only thing the poet could do was to remain silent. The silence itself would speak out the poet's feelings and nothing else. 

8.What does the phrase 'transient feet' signifies in the context of the poem? 

Ans:The word 'transient' implies the temporariness or mortal. The bare feet of the three girls and their pretty faces , which were washed by the sea-waves showed in the photograph are the objects of mortality. Whereas the sea in the photograph will remain unchanged for years or remained as same even after the death of her mother. A comparison is created between the mortal feet of the three girls and the sea, that the nature is more permanent and long lasting than the human being. 

  

                       

'The Voice of The Rain' by Walt Whitman

 

Whitman's Poem

The Voice of The Rain

About the poet:

Walt Whitman is the significant writer of the 19th century American literature. He is considered as the greatest American poet in the 19th century.

 The renaissance of American literature begins with his writings as a poet. Free verse in poetry was introduced by him for the first time in American Literature. 

His book on poetry "Leaves of Grass" Is considered as the masterpiece of American Literature, first published by himself in 1855 with twelve poems. 

Whitman was born on May 31 1819, in Long Island, New York.

He died on March 26, 1892,camden, New Jersey. 

His family moved to Brooklyn and the poet Whitman lived there almost 40 years of his life.

Walt Whitman had limited formal education. He attended Public ko in Brooklyn. At the age of 12 Whitman had to earn his livelihood to support his family. He became an apprentice printer in Brooklyn, a teacher in a rural school in Long Island and  became a journalist later on. 

Whitman worked as a reporter, wrote stories and himself delivered his own founded local newspaper. He became the editor of Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1840 and his political views were aligned with the Free Soil Party, the upstart of that time. His writings were of no literary importance at that time. 

In 1850 , Whitman frequently went to the theatre and highly influenced by William Shakespeare's poetry. From then Whitman started writing poems on nature and on some subject matter of his daily experience. 

Walt Whitman self-published his book on poetry "Leaves of Grass" , contains only twelve poems, all the poems are untitled and there is no author's name. The poems are more like  prose then poetry. Throughout his life  Whitman worked and expanded his book "Leaves of Grass" , and produced ninth editions. In 1892, his year of death the ninth edition was published. 

The poems of the "Leaves of Grass" were highly appreciated and encouraged by the poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. The poems were not acclaimed any literary reputation in his lifetime due to controversial subject-matters, but achieved high recognition after his death.

Walt Whitman introduced a new trends of Free Verse in his poetry for which his "Leaves of Grass" was considered as a monumental work in American literature. 

The Voice of The Rain :Summary

The poet's dialogue with the rain:

The poem "The Voice of the Rain" is a dialogue between the poet and the rain. The poet asks the soft-falling shower, "who art thou? ".The rain gives him an answer which is a strange experience for the poet . The poet hears that answer and translates it into a verse form for his reader. 

The poet hears the voice of the rain:

It is a strange experience for the poet that the rain, which is a natural phenomenon, can give  him reply like a human being. The poet hears the rain's reply in his deepest core of his heart and feels the urgency to deliver it to the reader into his own language. 

The poet translates the answer of the rain into his own language and presents it to us in the form of a poem.

The poet's explanation of the rain's answer in his own verse:

The rain replies to the poet that she is the poem of the earth and she borns out of the "bottomless sea"of the earth, rises invisibly in the form of vapour, upward to the sky where it takes a vague form cloud and again comes back to it's own origin in the form of shower. The rain herself tells the poet that she hasn't changed by her original quality which remained  unchanged . She has changed only  her form in the sky.

The rain performs it's duty towards the planet:

 The rain, while descending to the earth,laves away all kinds of  impurities in the air, taken away the drought of the soil, makes it fertile and helps in germinating the seeds, laying hidden under the soil. The poet says without rain the seeds would remain unborn. 

The rain has rejuvenated the soil on the earth.The seeds laying hidden under the soil starts germinating, otherwise the seeds remain unborn and lay hidden under the soil. So, the poet says the rain makes the planet green and pure. 

The rain -a scientific cyclical pattern explained in a verse form:

The rain is a scientific cyclical pattern, a natural phenomenon, of the planet. The water bodies of the earth evaporated by the heat of the sun and rises upward "impalpable" In the form of vapour to the sky and there it takes the form of the cloud.After wandering for sometime in the sky When it cools down it comes down to the earth as rain.

The rain nourishes the earth:

The rain gives life back to the earth. It washes away all kinds of impurities from the air and makes the soil fertile for sprouting  the latent seeds that the whole natural environment becomes clean, pure and green.

Thus the rain performs it's duty eternally to make the whole planet green and pure. 

The rain is the song of the earth:

The rain is the song of the earth. As the poetry is the expression of the poet the rain is the expression of the earth. The poetry or the music  nourishes the creator, just like that the rain nourishes the earth.In that sense the poet makes a comment on the role of the rain that it originates from the earth and again comes back to the earth to nourishes and nurture the earth.This process is continued day and night, eternally, without caring of being noticed or unnoticed. The poet explains it as an unique role of the rain towards the planet. 

The rain and song: a parallelism:

The poet draws a parallelism between the song and rain. As the song or music soothes and nourishes the mankind the rain does also performs the same duty towards the planet earth. The rain makes the whole planet green and pure.

The last two lines of the poet are the the poet's observations and comments on the unique identity of the rain:

The last two lines are put in brackets by the poet, which is the poet's own comment on the rain. The poet has given the rain an unique identity, a personified figure, to elaborate it's cyclical functions on earth which has the scientific explanations.

The rain as a responsible entity:

The poet has brought out the image of the rain as a responsible entity who performs many responsible functions towards it's origin.The poet here presents us an image of a responsible child to a mother. 

The rain is the poem of the earth. 

The rain gives back life to the earth. 

The rain cleanse the air and makes the soil fertile. 

The rain helps to germinate the seeds hidden under the soil. 

The rain makes the planet green and beautiful. 

Without rain all these are not happened. 

The rain nourishes the planet, like the poetry to the mankind:

The rain is the song of the earth, as it is the expression of the earth.The rain nourishes the planet as the song or the poem nourishes the mankind. Day and night the rain does it's duty without being cared or noticed. 

The role of the rain towards the planet:

The rain does fertile the land helps the seeds  to sprout and grow into plants. Without the rain the seeds which lay "unborn" under the soil, wouldn't germinate. 

The rain performs it's duty responsibly:

Thus  the rain has fulfilled it's duty towards the earth from where it is born, makes the earth green and beautiful. 

The Theme of the poem:

The poet establishes the unique  quality of the rain through his poem that the rain performs it's duty with utmost responsibility and makes the planet green and pure. 

The poet establishes the fact that the rain has the ethical obligations to it's origin- that it gives back life to the earth. Though there is a scientific reason of it's occurance on the earth the poet explains the rain as an unique entity who performs it's duty continuously, ignoring whoever care it or not.

 The poet deals with an unique subject, that is, there is a similarity between the poetry and the rain as  both of them are the expression of the  creator, preforms the same duty that is to nourish and nurture. As the poetry nourishes and nurtures the mind of the mankind the rain nourishes and nurtures the earth similarly. 

The poetic devices used in the poem:

Personification:

The poet has imagined the rain as a personified figure and asks a question . The rain answers to the poet like a human being and the poet hears it in the deepest core of his heart. 

Lines from the poem:

"Who art thou? "

"I am the Poem of Earth"

"Eternal I rise... ..... "

Metaphor:

The poet makes a comparison of rain with the Poem. It is a metaphorical use of  comparison between two objects in which qualities are transferred with each other. 

"I am the Poem of Earth"

The rain is like the poem of the earth as the rain and the poem both have the same impact on mankind. 

Hyperbole:

The poet use the exaggerated phrases to create the poetic impact. 

"bottomless sea" Is the example of hyperbole. 

Oxymoron:

The poet uses some contradictory terms to imply a deep poetic impact. 

Examples from the poem:

"day-night", "reck'd and unreck'd".

Paradox: 

The poet in his poem presents seemingly opposite situation. The rain which originates from the water bodies of the earth can gives back life to it's own origin. Example:

" I give back life to my own origin".

Parallelism:

The poet draws a parallelism between rain and song. 

("For song,........ ") 

The rain and song both have the same qualities that is to nourish and entertain. 

Imagery:

The poet presents rain as a gentle figure and an unique entity. The lines which shows this imageries:

" I rise impalpable out of the land...... "

"I descend to lave the droughts.......... 

Major questions and answers:

1.There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this? 

Ans:-The two voices in the poem are, the voice of the poet and the voice of the rain. 

"Who art thou? " is the voice of the poet. The questions to the rain about it's identity. And last two lines in the bracket are also the voice if the poet. 

("For song, issuing from it's birth-place, after fulfillment, wandering/Reck'd Or Unreck'd, fully with returns.) is the poet's observations and comments on the rain. 

2.What does the phrase "strange" to tell mean? 

Ans:-The poet hears the answer of his question from the rain, which is a strange fact as the rain an inanimate object,gives him reply like a human being. 

3.There is a parallel between the rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two. 

Ans:-The poet draws a parallel between the rain and the music. The lines which indicate this are:

"I am the Poem of the Earth"- here the rain is compared with a poem or a music as the raining is like a soft music. 

(" For song, ----------with love returns".) -here is the poet's comment on the role of the rain as the rain soothes mankind with soft music of rain and nourishes and nurtures the planet.

 

The draws a parallelism between the rain and music. The poet calls the rain as soft falling shower, which is like a soft melody. Just like the rain the music has also the soothing impact on mankind.

 The rain comes back to the earth as soft falling shower which soothes and rejuvenate the infertile soil and taken away the drought of the earth.The rain nourishes the planet and makes the planet green and pure.

 The music also soothes and nourishes the mind of the mankind which makes the human being spiritually alive and makes more productive. 

4.How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you have learnt in science. 

Ans:-The poet has perfectly versed the cyclic movement of rain. The poet uses a poetical sense in explaining the cyclical pattern of rain in the form of the voice of the rain. In the rain's voice the poet explains that the rain is the poem of the earth which rises from the water bodies from the earth and rises invisibly to the sky, forms cloud, and after wandering sometime in the sky,again comes back  to lave the droughts, atomic and dust-layers of the earth and makes the soil fertile which helps germinating the seeds hidden under the soil.The poet says in the voice of the rain that without it the seeds will remain latent and unborn. The rain has been performing it's duty eternally day and night to make the planet green and beautiful. 

5.Why are the last two lines put within brackets? 

Ans:-The poet puts the last two lines in the brackets because in these lines the poet makes comments after the observations of the functions played by the rain towards the planet. The whole poem is the translated version of the rain's reply into the poet's own language. 

6.List the pair of opposites found in the poem. 

Ans:-The pair of opposite words in the poem are:

day and night, 

Reck'd and Unreck'd. 

7.Write the prose form of the sentences from the poem below. 

1.And  who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower. 

2.I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain. 

3.Eternal I rise

4.For song........... duly with love returns. 

Answers:

1.The poet asks the soft-falling shower who she is. 

2.The rain replies to the poet that she is the Poem of the Earth. 

3.The rain says that she rises from the earth eternally. 

4.The rain rises from the earth for the song for soothing and nourishing the planet and to return it's love to the earth.